Sir Roger Moore, who starred in a record seven official 007 movies, was known for his cheeky sense of humour which has been highlighted fondly by his Bond girls over the years.
Kristina Wayborn, who played Magda in 1983’s Octopussy, recently shared some outrageous moments on set with the late star, in celebration of the film’s 40th anniversary.
Speaking earlier this year at Q The Music’s James Bond Concert Spectacular at London’s The O2, the 73-year-old recalled being cast in the 007 adventure.
She told Bond Experience host David Zaritsky that when offered the role she thought: “Are you kidding me? I’m going to be in bed in Roger Moore?
“Send me some double-stick carpet tape because I need to make some sort of adjustments here so nothing snaps off in the middle of this!”
Wayborn said of Moore: “He was very funny. He had very sharp wit. And I remember when we did the train sequence and [Octopussy star] Maud Adams has a scene where she’s being massaged. But in between the takes she had this white terry cloth robe on, very fuzzy and nice, and Roger was doing the train scene so he had oil on his hands; it was pretty rough. So we were all walking around having coffee and he put his hand on her backside and left an imprint. Then he came around the other side and put his other hand on that one. So Maud is walking around as if somebody has really…we had a lot of fun about that!”
Of course, such an act wouldn’t be acceptable today, but the 007 star’s Bond girls of the 1970s and 1980s have always said what a true gentleman Moore was and from Wayborn’s account it sounds like the cast and crew found this very amusing. In fact, Adams was even able to get him back by accidentally injuring his “sensitive region” during a love scene which “floored” the Bond star.
As for Wayborn’s intimate moment with Moore, director John Glen had told her: “You be the aggressor, just devour him”, to which she replied, “Okay, I think I can do that!” According to Adams, love scenes were never Moore’s favourite thing so he always ended up turning them into a joke, which Wayborn discovered for herself too.
Wayborn shared: “When we were doing the love scene at Pinewood, it was very cold at the 007 stage there. November I think it was. And we were in our ski clothes under those sheets… unfortunately!” The Bond girl shared how Roger went up on the balustrade that surrounded the sound stage where he had two buckets hidden up there for his prank on her.
She said: “He set this up! One bucket was full and one was empty. So he says to all the press, ‘Oh this is hard work, I’ve got to relieve myself.’ And so he goes out and he continues to pour the water from one bucket to the next… and the sound effects you can imagine! And he comes back out zipping out his flies saying to me, ‘Oh I feel so much better darling!’ [These pranks were] continuous, I mean every day!”
Another one took place on location in India where they had hotel suites next to each other and had been warned not to drink the water. The Magda star recalled: “I was a little paranoid about it, so one morning I get up and I brush my teeth and I shriek out. And Roger comes out in his dressing gown with a bottle of Jack Daniels and he says, ‘Oh darling, do gargle and swallow.’